Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - 2022- 791 Pages

 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - 2022- 791 Pages 

Demon Copperhead is set in western Virginia in the Appalacians.  It is the story of an orphan growing up in the midst of the opiod epidemic.  Kingsolver modeled it meticulously on another novel about an orphan, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.  Dickens would be proud.

A New York Times "Ten Best Books of 2022 * An Oprah's Book Club Selection * An Instant New York Times Bestseller *

 An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller * A #1 Washington Post Bestseller

"Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient." —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick

From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero's unforgettable journey to maturity

Told my Damon (he his given a nickname of Damon), his unwed teenage mother gives birth to him in her trailer.

Kingsolver shows us the impact of the coal mines, the stripping of the forests,  the exploration of Appalacia going back two hundred years.  The only jobs are as coal miners, the schools are terrible, the health care worse and the foster system is a cruel joke.  

Purdue Pharmaceutical company has decided this would be the perfect place to market a pain killer, oxytocin which ends up furthering the destruction of the community.  Doctors get free trips for prescribing it.  Once you start on it, you are made miserable once the impact wears down.

We follow Demon through his relationship with a very abusive stepfather, the death of his mother, his time in foster care, his friendships and romances.  Football is every thing in his town and he becomes a star player.  Death and addiction rule until they don't thanks to the resliance of Damon and some help.  

You will love the ending. Like a Dickens novel, every chapter wants you waiting to find out what happens next.

Barbara Kingsolver is the author of nine bestselling works of fiction, including the novels Unsheltered, Flight Behavior, The Lacuna, Prodigal Summer, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as books of poetry, essays, and creative nonfiction. With her husband and daughters she authored the influential Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver’s work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has earned literary awards and a devoted readership at home and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2000 was awarded the National Humanities Medal, our country’s highest honor for service through the arts. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.